Some players I would've liked to seen in an alternative timeline: Jose Cepeda; son of Omar Cepeda, Jose had a 31 game hitting streak in the midwest league, and utterly dominated low A ball during the 1996 season. He was involved in a trade that landed him in the Atlanta organization where he played SS behind a rising Rafael Furcal. I would have liked to see Jose have a better shot, although I guess his brief glimpse at the bigs was relatively uneventful. Jose retired after becoming a minor league free agent.

Gabe Alvarez; After the 1997 season, the expansion draft took some talent from the Tigers, but not a whole lot of payroll. In an effort to make their team more lean, they traded fan favorite 3b Travis Fryman and LF Luis Gonzalez. The Randy Smith PR machine made promises that their replacements, Alvarez, Karim Garcia, and Gabe Kapler, were every bit as great as their multi-million dollar counterparts. By the end of April, it was apparent that the talent of the Motor City's 3 big name rookies was overrated. Indeed all 3 players were struggling, but none moreso than Alvarez. The Tigers made a trade with new division rivals (since the Tigers were in the East until Tampa Bay took their spot, forcing the Tigers into the Central, and the Brewers into the NL) Kansas City Royals for 3b Joe Randa. Again, the promises for Randa to be a superior, cheaper replacement to much beloved, and now Cleveland Indian, Travis Fryman, turned to be a mere fantasy. Disappointed by the combined output of the young, yet affordable third basemen, the Tigers severed ties with both in favor of an aging and high priced free agent, Dean Palmer. Randa went on to have measured success with the Pirates and Royals, while Alvarez was never heard from again. Garcia continued for a couple more years with the Tigers, while Kapler toiled in the minors until he became a part of the Red Sox 2007 and Rays 2008 World Series runs.